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Friday, July 31, 2015

Morningside Park Effluent Leak Fixed

Pipe repaired at Morningside Park

For the second time in about six months the outfall pipe which carries treated effluent from the Hammond Bay treatment plant required digging up and repairing. This pipe carries treated effluent and not raw sewage about 2km out towards Five Finger Islands where it is discharged.The leak this time came from a finger-sized hole in the side of the pipe that actually discharged a relatively small amount of effluent. When the tide comes in the pressure inside the pipe increases and that is when the leak was evident. While signs were posted advising of the problem Island Health did not issue a beach closure notice.Crews were able to fix the leak on Thursday afternoon before the incoming tide would have caused another days delay as the leak was in a tidal area of the beach. The leak was spotted by the property owner whose fence had to be removed last December when crews had to repair a much larger leak in the same pipe.This pipe is all due to be replaced in 2016 which is considerably sooner than would have been expected. I wonder if there is any way of determining if there are any issues with the quality of the pipe we thought we were buying 45 years ago?Crews will be busy now trying to restore the park as it is a popular spot with some of the locals who enjoy a refreshing dip the bay.